Remington growled and kicked, trying to get away from Dullahan but the giant was too big and strong. I realized suddenly that Puca was gone. I looked around at the shipping yard and a flash of orange fur caught my eye from the ship sloshing next to the dock. The cargo ship’s side slammed into the concrete shipping yard and I could hear its metal scrapping and scratching as waves knocked it around.

“You can’t kill me!” Remington spat. Laughter growled around us, coming from Dullahan’s missing head.

“Isidoro,” the name hissed up from the sea and for the first time, I saw fear flash in Remington’s eyes. He yelled in terror, pushing on Dullahan as he panted. He was panicked—his eyes wild and pupils blown. The necromancer was apparently terrified of a true death. It made sense. He was a man who did anything and everything to avoid it. However, he was now clutched in the hands of the one person who could rip his soul from his body and shove it into Hell.

“No!” Remington screamed. His fingers dove into his coat and with shaking fingers he lifted out the golden vial, sparkling with my luck. He pushed it at Dullahan while begging for his life.

“Don’t,” Remington gasped, shoving the vial into his chest. “Don’t kill me! I didn’t want to work for them. I had no choice,” he screamed in anger now. “And now they’ve abandoned me here with the rest of you. They plan to kill all of us. Sink this cursed rock into the ocean. They've launched a missile,” he admitted. “We all need to get on the boat and leave if we plan to live.”

Dullahan grabbed the vial gently and then lifted Remington up. He swung the man around in circles, gaining momentum until finally, he let him go.

The cowboy flew out into the sea, dropping into the choppy waters. His face bobbed up from the black waters as he gasped for breath.

A bird shot at me and then transformed into Puca. He stood next to me and we watched Remington attempt to get closer to the boat, swimming like his life depended on it. Puca laughed at that. I was about to ask him why but then the ship exploded in a massive grand display of fire.

“Well that was unfortunate for him,” Puca laughed. Dullahan came walking up, his head back on his body.

“Also, I didn’t know his last name,” he admitted with a smirk. Puca laughed harder. Dullahan opened his hand and I looked at the vial sparkle in his palm. It was beautiful. I plucked it up and snapped off the top, before I could even drink, it drifted to my mouth, sliding back inside my bones and settling there.

The sky suddenly cleared, clouds rolling away.

“All is well again,” Puca said.

“Well, except for the missile,” I said.

“Oh,” Puca said, like I told him there was a new menu item at the restaurant we were going to for lunch. I stared at him, wondering if he might be more insane than I thought he was. He smiled down at me pleasantly and I shuddered.